FBI reports Americans lost $5.6B to cryptocurrency fraud in 2023

Richard Heart, the controversial founder of HEX, is claiming total victory over the US SEC after years of court battles.On April 21, the SEC said that it would not amend and refile its fraud case against the former child actor and crypto evangelist. A court had dismissed the SEC’s fraud charges against Heart on Feb. 28.Heart announced on X that HEX had obtained a victory very few crypto projects could boast: “Richard Heart, PulseChain, PulseX, and HEX have defeated the SEC completely and have achieved regulatory clarity that nearly no other coins have.”HEX may be out of hot water with American securities regulators (for now), but Heart still faces charges in Europe, where he is wanted both for alleged tax fraud and for alleged assault on a minor. Richard Heart, real name Richard James Schueler, is still on Interpol’s wanted list. Source: InterpolSEC claimed Heart used HEX to defraud investorsIn July 2023, the SEC filed a complaint against Heart, whose real name is Richard James Schueler, along with HEX, HEX’s layer-1 blockchain project, PulseChain, and the decentralized exchange (DEX) for the PulseChain network, PulseX. The SEC made a number of allegations, including securities fraud and securities registration violations. It asked the court to bar Heart and his projects from participating in any sort of crypto asset security offering and to give up “all ill-gotten gains received as a result of the violations alleged.”The complaint noted Heart’s repeated claims that HEX could offer incredible rewards to make investors rich. It also wrote that Heart spent over $12 million of proceeds from HEX offerings on luxury goods such as watches, sports cars and a 555-carat diamond ring.Indeed, Heart is no stranger to the finer things in life. His celebrity is in part due to his frequent displays of wealth. In one video on X, he flaunted Louis Vuitton cases filled with dozens of luxury watches that he said were worth 9 million euros. Richard Heart wears four Rolex watches. Source: Luxury BazaarHeart’s court case came down to jurisdiction. Last year, his legal team filed a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that the SEC failed to show that any activities had occurred within the United States. The SEC protested the motion. Ultimately, US District Judge Carol Bagley Amon agreed with Heart (the HEX founder does not live in the US), and she ruled that the statements regarding HEX’s price were targeted to a global audience — not US investors.“The alleged misappropriation occurred through digital wallets and crypto asset platforms, none of which were alleged to have any connection with the United States,” Amon stated.Finnish authorities want Heart on tax and assault chargesHeart claims that this legal victory provides new ground on which the crypto industry can thrive, creating a legal precedent that supposedly makes HEX safer to work with than any other crypto project.Heart and HEX may not face American securities regulators, but he is still in hot water with Finnish authorities over alleged tax evasion and assault.In September 2024, Finnish media wrote that Heart, who was reportedly residing in Helsinki, was remanded into custody in absentia. Finnish investigators, at the request of the country’s tax authorities, were investigating Heart and reportedly found that Heart’s income reporting did not match the tax service’s estimates.Helsinki police detective Harri Saaristol said, “Based on the very considerable amount of money in question and the long-term and planned nature of the activity, there are grounds to suspect gross tax evasion.”Related: Interpol issues ‘Red Notice’ for Hex founder Richard HeartIn the course of their investigation, Finnish police seized millions of euros worth of luxury watches from a residence in the city of Espoo near Helsinki. Europol also stated that Heart (referred to as Schueler in the report) is wanted for assaulting a minor. “Schueler physically assaulted a 16-year-old victim by grabbing their hair, dragging them into the stairwell and knocking them to the ground.”The allegations together have earned him a profile on Europol and Interpol’s most wanted criminal lists. Investigations are ongoing. How long can HEX keep it up?It seems Heart dodged US regulation because the SEC lacked jurisdiction rather than evidence. So, how long can he keep HEX going?Industry observers and analysts have long claimed that HEX was a new form of Ponzi scheme, namely due to the promises of a whopping 38% annual percentage yield, larger profits for onboarding new users and the fact that Heart owned some 90% of HEX tokens.Despite a number of committed acolytes on social media, the token seems all but dead. HEX’s price pumped briefly on news of the SEC dismissal. Zooming out, it’s barely moved since Heart’s legal troubles with the SEC began.At publishing time, HEX’s price is $0.002253; 24-hour transaction volumes barely top $250,000. HEX’s price spiked in 2021 before nearly falling off by early 2023. Source: CoinMarketCapMagazine: Former Love Island star’s tips on how to go viral in crypto: Van00sa, X Hall of Flame

Michael Saylor, the CEO of top corporate Bitcoin holder Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), expressed support for newly appointed US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins.In an April 23 X post, Saylor wrote that “SEC Chairman Paul Atkins will be good for Bitcoin.” The statement follows Atkins’ swearing-in as the 34th chairman of the SEC on April 21.Source: Michael SaylorBlue Macellari, the head of digital assets at investment firm T. Rowe Price, also commented positively on Atkins’ swearing in during a recent Bloomberg interview. She seemed hopeful and recognized a change in how the SEC has acted under the new administration, particularly with crypto-related information, including “close to six or seven roundtables” with industry professionals. She said:“I think that that’s gonna feed into the ability to make thoughtful and considerate policies.”Vincent Liu , chief investment officer at crypto investment firm Kronos Research, told Cointelegraph that “under Chair Atkins, finalizing custody rules for digital assets is expected to provide the investor protections that institutions demand.” Other issues expected to be resolved are clarification on whether some digital assets are securities or commodities:“Together, these two moves will help establish clear custody standards and bring much-needed clarity paving the way for the next wave of crypto product innovation.”Related: SEC and feds charge man over $200M crypto trading schemeWho is Atkins, and what does he mean for crypto?Accolades from representatives of the crypto industry readily followed Atkins’ appointment by US President Trump in late 2024. Bitwise Asset Management general counsel Katherine Dowling said at the time that he is a “great choice,” and Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that he “will bring common sense back to the agency.”Not everyone was happy with the choice. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said during Atkins’s nomination hearing that he had had “staggeringly bad judgment” in his role as a SEC commissioner leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. Atkins served at the agency from 2002 to 2008.She also raised an issue with his consulting firm, Patomak Global Partners, which had advised the crypto exchange FTX before its 2022 collapse. Warren said:“Your clients pay you north of $1,200 an hour for advice on how to influence regulators like the SEC, and if you’re confirmed, you will be in a prime spot to deliver for all those clients who’ve been paying you millions of dollars for years.”Liu said that “to maintain public trust and avoid even the perception of regulatory conflict of interest, it’s essential to implement clear guardrails.” Such a guardrail would include mandatory disclosures of prior industry ties, ethics oversight, and transparent public comment periods for all crypto rules.Related: SEC says it won’t re-file fraud case against Hex’s Richard HeartAtkins accused of biasWarren also sent a letter to Atkins in late March, stating that he should expect questions about his potential role at the agency due to his ties to the crypto industry through Patomak. Before being appointed, Atkins revealed a personal and family financial portfolio worth more than $327 million, according to a public ethics filing released ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing. Similarly, Trump’s artificial intelligence and crypto czar, David Sacks, filed a notice in early March suggesting that his venture capital firm sold more than $200 million in crypto and related stocks ahead of assuming his role.Magazine: Your AI ‘digital twin’ can take meetings and comfort your loved ones

Investments in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have rebounded to levels last seen in January, signaling a recovery in investor sentiment from concerns about global trade tariff escalations.US spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs had over $912 million worth of cumulative net inflows on April 22, marking their highest daily investment in more than three months since Jan. 21, Farside Investors data shows.Bitcoin ETF Flow, millions. Source: Farside Investors“Bitcoin ETPs just saw the largest daily inflows since 21st January in a dramatic improvement in sentiment,” according to James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares.Related: Bitcoin still on track for $1.8M in 2035, says analystInvestor sentiment appeared to improve after US President Donald Trump said that import tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially,” adopting a softer tone in negotiations.The de-escalation and growing ETF inflows pushed Bitcoin price above $93,000 for the first time in seven weeks, Cointelegraph reported on April 23.The growing institutional investment and presence of ETFs may also accelerate the historic four-year cycle and bolster BTC to new highs before the end of 2025, analysts told Cointelegraph.US dollar weakness may reinforce Bitcoin’s safe-haven appealThe US dollar’s weakness may contribute to the growing investor demand for Bitcoin. DXY, year-to-date chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of leading fiat currencies, fell nearly 9% since the beginning of 2025, to an over three-year low of 98.8 last seen in April 2022, TradingView data shows.“Macro factors like a weakening dollar and rising gold correlation,” may reinforce Bitcoin’s appeal as a hedge against economic volatility, Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research, told Cointelegraph.Related: Crypto, stocks enter ‘new phase of trade war’ as US-China tensions riseBitcoin no longer trading in the “shadow of tech”Crypto and traditional stock markets are “walking a tightrope between political drama and economic reality,” with Bitcoin staging a significant rebound thanks to “strong ETF inflows, institutional acquisitions, and a weakening US dollar,” according to Nexo dispatch analyst Iliya Kalchev:“Bitcoin’s strength amid dollar weakness, record gold prices, and renewed institutional buying reflects a market recalibrating what safety looks like.”“The conversation has clearly shifted. Bitcoin is no longer trading in the shadows of tech — it’s becoming a lens through which macro uncertainty is priced,” he added.Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik also praised Bitcoin’s resilience, noting that the maturing asset is becoming “less Nasdaq — more gold” over the past two weeks, increasingly acting as a safe haven asset against economic turmoil, though concerns over economic recession may limit its price trajectory.On April 21, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes predicted that this might be the “last chance” to buy Bitcoin below $100,000, as the incoming US Treasury buybacks may signal the next significant catalyst for Bitcoin price.Magazine: Bitcoin’s odds of June highs, SOL’s $485M outflows, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 2 – 8